He Who Is Caged
by Airotia
Summary: KyoxHaru Kyo is caged and Haru saves him, along with Yuki, Tohru, and Momiji. SLASH Oneshot


_**He Who Is Caged**_

_A/N: The story goes from Kyo's POV, to 3rd person; to Kyo's POV, and ends in Kyo's POV as well. Just so you won't be confused._

I don't know why I thought I'd be saved from my fate, just because I had finally made a few friends and had a boyfriend. I don't know why I expected my life to have a fairytale ending.

I thought such thoughts as I stared, annoyed, out of the bars of my cage. Akito had the 'decency' to put me somewhere sunny. And a damn _bird_ was just outside the window, taunted me. It was sitting on a branch, and staring at me, chirping. The floor was pure dirt, and there was no way to throw a rock at the bird. Similarly, there was also nothing sharp that I could use to just end it all.

Obviously, they had thought things like this through.

I continued staring out of the window, wondering why Haru had yet to come to try and save me. I wondered if Tohru was really worried, and I wondered if Yuki went to sleep with a big grin on his face because he knew I was caged. I wondered if Shigure even noticed I was gone, and if Hatori or Ayame would even realize I no longer existed in their world. I was also curious as to if Kisa and Hiro asked about me when they came to Shigure's house, unable to fathom that the cat was caged. I wondered if Momiji, Uo, and Hana even really noticed, or were affected, by my sudden disappearance.

I started thinking of the reactions of the members of the Zodiac, and of course, the people out of the Zodiac seriously. Yuki was happy, I knew that much, and Shigure probably didn't care. I knew Tohru cared—she'd care about a wasp that stung her if its wing was crushed right after. I thought of all the members of the Zodiac, except for Haru. I paused at Haru—the ox, my boyfriend, and the only one I've let see me vulnerable.

Did he care? He had never mentioned anything of it before my graduation. He had never brought it up. Whenever Yuki mentioned it to him, Haru just stared on blankly.

As if he didn't care, or perhaps was brooding.

I couldn't tell the difference, but I really hope he was brooding, because, honestly, it hurt me to think that he didn't care.

And then I scoffed. At this point, did it really matter? The answer is a 'no', because I'd never see anyone, ever again, in my entire lifetime. I'd never see the people I cared about—ever again. The only person I'd ever see would be the person who brought me food and water, and cleaned out the chamber pot they are having me use.

They could have at least have given me plumbing, running water, or something. But, then again, I suppose they've thought that through, too—you don't want to give the cat a way to end its misery, now do you? And even if the cat had to hold himself underneath the water by sheer willpower, I'm sure he—I—could do it.

It amazed me how much I thought of suicide lately. I would look for any possible way—perhaps the fork or knife I use to eat with! But, no, they give you either finger foods or foods you can eat with a spoon—no sharp objects. I even began thinking of very extreme ideas, such as hanging myself using my belt or some article of clothing. But, really, there was no place I could hang myself from. The ceiling was completely barren.

I had terrible luck.

----

"Yuki, I need you," Haru whimpered, pulling the sleeve of Yuki's shirt. Yuki and Tohru turned to face the younger boy, shocked at what he had said.

"Haru, we've talked about that—" Yuki began, misunderstanding his tone and his words.

"Not that! I don't mean it that way! I need you to help me… to help get Kyo back!" he cried out. He was in complete disarray, more upset than Yuki had ever seen the cow. And he didn't mean angered—though that was there, too—he meant sad and desperate. He could see the tears forming at his eyes.

"I'll help however I can," Tohru said gently, placing a comforting hand on Haru's arm. "I… I also want him back…" she choked out before sobbing. She had been crying on and off ever since a few days after Kyo had been sent to the cage, and before that, she was always crying.

"I want to help!" Momiji cried out, suddenly appearing from the direction Haru had come. He was also crying. People were starting to give them funny looks, as if wondering why two boys and a girl were crying in the middle of a school.

"Please, Yuki… Only you… can… fight well…" Haru whimpered once again, the hand that wasn't gripped onto Yuki's sleeve still wrapped around his other arm.

"Fine. But he'd better give me at least a 'thank you'," Yuki grumbled. Even he missed the cat—a little bit. A _tiny _bit. And, **_no_**, he was **_not_** crying. He just hadn't had enough sleep the past night, and he had yawned, and his eyes watered…

Well, he was crying, just a little bit. But he wouldn't admit to it to Kyo.

"Do you know where they're keeping him?" Yuki asked out of the blue, while everyone was hugging each other and smiling happily.

"Why do you think I waited so long?" Haru asked, a small smirk on his face. "Now, let's go save _my_ kitten."

----

It was surprisingly easy to get through. Tohru and Momiji served as a distraction, in order to get the armed guards' attention. Yuki and I then made their way to the spot where Kyo was being kept, and Yuki helped me0 fight their way through a few dozen martial artists, easily taking them on, while even I had trouble with them. Just as we were about to hurry on, a few dozen more began to come at us.

Yuki turned to me, and, with all the confidence and decisiveness of a martyr from a movie, he yelled at me to go on ahead as soon as I could. I nodded numbly, wondering why the rat would take such a big risk for the cat. I didn't have much time to think, however, because as soon as I got past the guards, I was only thinking of Kyo. Of the cat. Of freeing my kitten from the cage he was fated to live in.

----

I continued to stare out the window, feeling dejected and alone. That's what I was—a reject, and with no one to love me.

As if a dream, or hallucination, I saw Haru's face at the window. I began laughing. I had gone insane. "I'm nuts!" I cried out, rocking back and forth.

Haru's eyes narrowed. "I love you, too, you baka neko. You're welcome. Yes, it did take a while," Haru spat out, replying to all of the possible greetings (I love you; thanks; finally!)

"Haru?" I asked.

"'Course," Haru said, sighing. He pulled a crowbar from the side—a crowbar the people who had to get my chamber pot used—and pulled open the door, working the door open with strenuous effort. I posed at the door, ready to pounce. To escape. To _get away from the fucking cage_.

When it was pulled open, before Haru could even toss the crowbar, I jumped at him and embraced him. "How? Why?" I asked, my tone just barely above whimpering. Okay, so I whimpered. Sue me.

"Yuki, Tohru, and Momiji helped. And, baka, it's because I love you," he mumbled against my neck, already having returned the embrace, still holding the crowbar behind me back—I could feel the cool metal through my shirt.

"You let Tohru and Momiji help? Didn't they get hurt?" I asked, though it was the farthest thing from my mind.

"They were distractions. They're fine. Let's go," Haru commanded, pulling away from the embrace and taking my hands. He didn't drop the crowbar, but then again, I wouldn't have, either. Crowbars are excellent fighting objects.

----

Even though I had been rescued from the cage, I didn't expect a happy ending. I expected Akito to throw a temper tantrum, find me, beat me, and put me in a different cage, after having beaten everyone else.

But that didn't happen.

Ironically, when Akito heard the news, he had a heart attack. And died. And nobody was willing to send me back to the cage. So I was the only cat to be freed.

And, somehow, that broke the curse—for everyone. We knew this, because when Yuki hugged Tohru after hearing the news about Akito, he didn't change into a rat—though he did it completely out of want to comfort her, and he did it without realizing it, it took a while for it to dawn on us that he was supposed to be a rodent.

So, in the end, it really was a fairytale ending—for everyone. It was too good to be true. Every time I lay in the bed next to him, his body pressed against mine, I automatically close my eyes tightly, because I'm afraid that all everything is is a fabrication, a dream, a hope…

But, if it is, I'm just going to hold on, even if it hurts when I have to let it all go.


End file.
